Customers want Web 2.0 banking

06/06/2008

A Worklight study of 1,000 Facebook users aged 18-34 has found almost half (48 per cent) would use Web 2.0 applications if given the chance by their bank.

A further 25 per cent would even go as far as switching banks to take advantage of the new technology.

Worklight Marketing and product strategy vice president David Lavenda outlined the damage that could be done if banks did not take notice of customer demand.

"To lose a quarter of your customers to competitors who have provided secure Web 2.0 banking would bear a significant impact on existing business.

"This is particularly true at a time when financial services companies are struggling to retain and acquire customers in a market that is saturated with new competitors and countless new offerings."

The case for Web 2.0 banking is not a new one.

In 2006, Gartner suggested financial services companies use wikis, podcasts and blogs to deliver personalised information to clients and improve cross-enterprise collaboration.